Side Stories for Lives After the End
by warperchick
Summary: A lot of things have happened after the Great War ended. So many events in so little time. Drabbles and one-shots related to Lives After the End. Not in chronological order. It helps if you've read Lives After the End. Rated M for safety.
1. Chapter 1

**Now this is a side story associated with Lives After the End. This is pretty much Helios' story told in the perspective of his biological Carrier. I know a lot of you are waiting for the next upload, but I regret to inform that my older laptop shut down permanently and took all of my work with it. This includes the works of The Brotherhood. So I am literally starting from scratch and trying to remember all that I put.**

**I also want to inform that this story will be a compilation of different side stories aligned with Lives After the End and they will not be in chronological order.**

**This story contains OCs, three of which are mine, one belongs to Optronix Prime.**

**Warnings: Mentions of rape in this chapter. NO EXPLICIT SCENES, I ASSURE YOU! Mentions of drinking and prostitution. Mild language.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. Prowl and Bumblebee are hinted if you have read Lives After the End.**

**Please, do enjoy!**

**Mourning Another Day**

I honestly do not know where it all went wrong. I thought I was being a good lover, a good mate, but where did I go wrong? What happened to the love that had once ignited us? Where did my once-loving mate go? Who took the affectionate mate and replaced him with a vicious mech who glares at me with piercing optics? Where he once said "I love you", he says "I hate you". I cried to Primus, asking him why and how he came to be like this? All I said was "We're having a sparkling" and he turns into a beast. What I thought were acts of love were now sessions of his satisfaction; I began to feel dissatisfied with our interfaces and when I became too heavy to be fragged, he was angry.

It was then he began to leave the house, come back drunk, frag me against my will.

I was cowardly enough to let him violate me. I never told anyone he would do that sort of crime. I was afraid he would do worse to me.

When my sparkling was born, he wasn't there. I was alone in the birthing room, screaming my spark out and crying until I hadn't any coolant left to leak. An entire solar cycle was spent in agony as I pushed my little mech into the world and when I held my sparkling, I found myself crying again. How could my mate miss this? How could he forsaken me when I needed him most? Where was my mate?

Oh, I'll tell you where he was.

I returned home, baby in arms, and the bastard I had come to hate was taking another femme in the very berth my son was made. In the same berth my mate and I had made sweet love. In the same berth he raped me time and time again. I watched as my spark fell apart once more, unable to hide my cry. They had stopped and the femme- she saw the sparkling in my arms. She had left in mere astroseconds, muttering an apology. I wished I could have left as easily as she did. My mate had given me a dirty look for interrupting- he didn't have the decency to look ashamed. The bastard didn't even look at our son…

I had gotten orders from the doctor that I was strictly not allowed to interface as my birthing was long and my valve was sore. I found myself limping to the hospital later that cycle.

I lied to the doctor. I was afraid he would find out about my mate's abuse and I slapped a fake smile. Despite that I wasn't an all too great actress and the doctor didn't buy my smile, he let me leave.

I should have told him…

For the first few vorns of my sparkling's life, he and I were happy. I bathed him, fed him, gave him all of my love because he deserved all the love he could get from his Carrier since his Sire was out drunk and fragging femmes or submissive mechs. I was there for my little Helios.

Then, his Sire wanted a legal separation.

That fateful cycle changed me. I cried. More than I had ever. I had been a fool to ever shed a tear to that beast. But I thought I loved him.

The cycle he left was the first time I had ever finished a bottle of high grade on my own. My processor was splitting the next morning and I continued to cry. My little sparkling had climbed into my berth without me knowing and he said into my audio, "Carry… don't cry."

I sobbed harder. I felt like such a failure.

Slowly, I had lost my reason. I began to drink and be fragged by other mechs out of pure jealousy. I had hoped that maybe, just maybe, my mate could see and be jealous. For two vorns, I kept that up. I abandoned my own child, locked him inside the house. I remembered to feed him every once in a while. I never forgot his creation day, the only day where I pampered my son. When he looked at me on his seventh creation day, he gazed into my optics and said, "Carrier, I love you."

He brought warmth back to my spark.

Unfortunately, the meaning behind his words reached me too late.

It wasn't until I was thrown behind bars did I realize how horribly I had ruined myself. I was a whore, a drunk, and I had no shame. I became the monster my mate had turned into. The animal I had hated, I had become. I cried again in my cell, hitting my helm into the wall with the hope that it would wiggle just the right thing out of place and kill me.

What had I done?

I was in a cold cell of the femme prison, serving vorns of sentence for prostitution, child neglect and abuse while my son had been taken, and placed in a home where he could be loved. The doctor and her mate weren't supposed to watch over my baby! It was supposed to be me!

The first chance I got, I cursed at the femme. I called her many obscenities unfit for the mouth of a femme. She listened to every single one of my curses until I was running on fumes. We were silent, then she said to me, "Helios is growing healthy with every passing cycle. He's happy with us, calls me his Carrier-"

I called her an ungrateful bitch and I swore at the femme again, my spark burning with Pit-worthy anger. Before I could finish, she interrupted me.

"Helios misses you, Stratas. I can assure you of that. It's a shame that the first call you get is directed towards me with anger and hate. I wasn't the one who left her child. Had I been you, instead of yelling and screaming at the femme who adopted my son, I would ask how he is. I would ask what he did, how school is going, how are his recoveries, how he's coping with his biological creators in prison. You should be ashamed of yourself."

Her words bit my spark because I knew she was right.

"Stratas."

"What?"

I heard her sigh. "Helios told me he still loves you. He misses you."

I had started to cry. Why did I screw up, Primus?

"I told him that he can visit you whenever he wants."

It took me a moment to speak again, but I managed to tell the other femme, "Watch over my little mech. Tell him I'm sorry… and-and tell him-"

The Enforcer urged me to hurry, that my time was almost up.

"T-tell him that I-I love him…"

She promised she would.

I cried for the remainder of the night, wishing my little sparkling was with me back home in my berth. I wished that when I awoke, we would be together like it was before my mate left me, all curled up in his berth.

Unfortunately… that never happened… I awoke in the cell the next morning. Then, the next morning. And the morning following that. It seemed endless until I was called to the visitor's gallery.

Never before did I feel so happy.

I saw my little sparkling, hiding behind the leg of the doctor and her mate from the other femme inmates. His optics that were once barren and void were bright and full of life; they found me and Helios came bounding forward, entangling himself into my arms that were cuffed to the table. I held him as closely as I could, sobbing in joy and remorse. My sparkling was crying too. I kissed his helm, assuring him that it was going to be alright.

My son and I talk for what seemed like many hours when in reality was only one.

He told me of the cute little femme he likes, eyeing the Enforcer behind me with a bashful gaze in his optics. How she had the "most adorable accent in the world" and how her wings fluttered like an insect from Earth called a butterfly. Helios showed me what it looked like and I told him that if he did indeed like her, to become her friend. To be there when she needed it most.

We continued; we laughed, cried, hugged, kissed.

It hurt to see him leave when the hour was over. I held him tightly, so tightly. I refused to let him go. Helios left as I was taken back to my cell, but I never took my optics off him until I couldn't see him anymore. I cried once more.

A few more vorns passed, maybe one or two. I had gotten visits from my Helios who wasn't so little anymore. I hadn't seen my son in about a groon when there was a prison break. Little did I know, my mate in the mech-only prison had managed to slip into the femme-only side while the guards were holding back the prison break. He found me in my cell and I could see in his optics he had become far colder than I once knew. Energon dripped from his frame, wounds decorated his armor and protoform, and the blaster in his servo was venting from overheating. He was intent on killing me.

I tried to reason with him, that we could both die. He refused to see my side of the argument, then promised that after he was through with me, he was going to find our son and kill him. However, it seemed that Primus pitied my spark and sent my salvation. The prison guard in my ward I came to recognize as Beta had my mate at point blank. I ran at that chance, not even bothering to watch the two mechs brawl behind me. In moments, I collapsed and I clutched my chest as my spark felt like it was mangled and squeezed. It tightened in my chest before it felt like it was literally tearing itself apart inside of me. My ties to my mate were severed in an instant and I felt as though I couldn't suck in any air to push through my vents. I gasped, struggling on the floor. Beta's figure made its way to my vision and I felt myself being carried. I heard him say, "Hold on."

"You-You… killed him…"

My audios managed to capture, "...firing on an unarmed inmate…"

I felt myself slipping in and out, gasping with every vent of air so desperate to stay online. I grasped at the guard as I choked my son's name, his faceplate coming into my fading vision. No… I couldn't leave my baby… my sparkling…


	2. Chapter 2

**Here is another chapter upload! Woo! I was musing over this story collection and Lives After the End and I realized before I can even go to the later time periods where the children are older, I have to keep updating Lives After the End. Bear with me, readers. I'll get there soon.**

**In this feature, we meet Cloudmist. Very beautiful femme. I have a character sketch that I will upload onto DeviantArt sometime. Her color scheme is similar to Chromia's but more white.**

**Anyways, this may contain a few spoilers for future chapter content in Lives After the End.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers**

**Warnings: Mild language at the beginning.**

Cloudmist slumped into the chair, not caring for proper etiquette anymore. She hated this and wanted out. Now. The femme was pripped and primmed, and had she not slouched with legs crossed, the youngest Vosnian princess would have looked elegant. Cloudmist was decorated with jewels and metallic fabric slung across her chest and around her hips like a toga. If she had kept her wings, the femme would have jewels adorning them as well. A stunning blue-silver crown sat on her helm, rimmed with white crystals and a diamond settled in the center of the crown's front. Her family crest was imprinted in the fabric, but her slouching made it difficult to see. She was not amused in the least and would rather visit the nice mech in the museum than be presented to Vosnian nobles.

"Cloudmist, for Primus sake, child. Sit up." hissed Skyhigh, the Crowned King of Vos. The King was upset for many reasons. One being, Cloudmist went behind his back to have a medic remove her wings and reformat her into a grounder just recently. The femme frowned, giving her Sire a scrunch of her nasal ridge before promptly sitting up, huffing irritably in the process. Skyhigh glared at his youngest daughter before turning back towards the small gathering of seekers that had entered.

Cloudmist rolled her optics, muttering beneath her vents, "Waste of time…"

"Wouldn't be a waste if you'd just bond with one of them." said her eldest brother, Gamma, from behind her as he and his trine brothers took their seats.

"Just so that they can use me as a pleasurebot and give them children? No, thank you. I'll keep my seals and chamber." Cloudmist crossed her arms, giving her brother a dirty look.

Gamma rolled his optics, wings twitching in discontent. "You are irrational."

"Me, irrational?" she sat up straighter, pointing a fierce glare in his direction. "You have the pick of the flock, Gamma. Any femme would gladly spread their legs for you simply because you inherit Sire's throne. And that is sickening."

"You and your love scrap doesn't find a place in royalty. The eldest mech or femme is betrothed and crowned ruler of Vos. The rest are to bond with the highest class of nobles without question." Nucleus said. "We learn that there is no room for love when courting. Leave that sappy stuff to the ones without a monarchy."

Cloudmist jumped from her seat, pushing away from the table with anger and outrage. "Then, I don't want to be in a monarch society! I hate it! I want to choose whom I want, when I want, whenever I want! I am not some princess who will willingly open her valve to the first noble in line, used as his whore, bear his children, then ignored until they are born! I don't want to be a princess of Vos if that is what it means to be!"

Her voice echoed throughout the grand hall, all optics on the femme. Several seekers frowned in disgust, others shook their helms. Cloudmist never met her Sire's gaze, but the King was more than infuriated; his majestic wings were arched high and tense.

The femme glared into the optics of her brothers before she stormed away, retreating into the hall and hurrying to leave. Her servo pulled off the crown as she ran, allowing it to clatter onto the ground, followed by her toga. The chain links broke, tinkling on the metallic floor until the entire toga was abandoned. Cloudmist ran down the halls, pushing past servants as she arrived at the servants' quarters. She didn't look back as the servants cried out "Your Highness!" or "Princess!". Tears riveted down her cheeks like a cascade as she digits grasped at the jewels attached to her frame, depositing them onto the floor. Cloudmist found herself leaving her Sire's palace where she transformed and drove out onto the streets, dashing away. It wasn't until she made it to the interstate highways did she calm down. Her engine was overheating from the amount of power she had used to get away and it whined in relief as her speed slowed. Cloudmist knew only one place to go.

-.-

She stood almost awkwardly as Sunstreaker opened the door. Bluestreak hadn't been kidding when he said his mates were large framed mechs from Kaon. The frontliner arched a brow as she tripped over her words. "I-I, uhm, is-is B-Bluestreak home?"

"No." he tilted his helm in curiosity. "He's working."

"Oh…" she stared at a suddenly interesting crack on the porch.

The two were in silence for a few astroseconds before Sunstreaker spoke again. "Can I help you?"

Cloudmist blinked, raising her helm and feeling intimidated by the large mech. "W-When does Blue come off w-work?"

"In a few breems." Sunstreaker paused. "Why?"

"Can I come in? I don't feel comfortable being outside…"

Despite his question being ignored, Sunstreaker stepped back and watched almost amusingly how Cloudmist scurried past him. Cloudmist took a seat on the couch, rubbing her faceplate.

"I ran away from the Vosnian palace…"

Sunstreaker frowned, observing the femme until his optics widened a fraction. "You're the princess who removed her wings."

Cloudmist nodded. "More like reformatted myself into a grounder." she sniffled, staring at her servos. "They expect me to bond with a noble. They're selling me like a common servant. All of my sisters bonded off so easily, they thought I would be the same."

"And how do you know Bluestreak?" asked Sunstreaker, skeptical.

"He let me in at the museum to hide from my brothers, but that is the first place they know where to look for me." she replied, wiping the coolant from her cheeks. "And Blue, he gave me his address for when I needed it, said he could shelter me. It's been a while, maybe a groon or two, since I last saw him. Sire confined me to my quarters. It isn't a doubt he'll keep in there again. Locked for good until he bribes a noble to bond with me."

Sunstreaker frowned. "That is cruel."

"It seems like in a kingdom, there isn't a place for love. It's bond, be happy along the way, be done with it. I hate it so much. The only love I have seen is adoration my Sire has with his sons. They're perfect. Three sons. What more could he have? My three sisters bonded without any problem and all of them are either carrying or walking around with seekerlings with their-"

The front door opened and a call followed after, "Sunny! I'm home!"

Sunstreaker's attention went to his mate and the frontliner went to meet him, gathering the Praxian into his arms and pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. "Hey, Baby Blue."

Bluestreak smiled, pecking a second kiss to Sunstreaker's cheek as the frontliner's servo rubbed his midsection. The smaller mech giggled softly before he saw Cloudmist out of the corner of his optic. He turned his helm in her direction, asking in surprise. "Misty, what brings you here?"

Cloudmist raised her helm after she had ducked it, feeling as though she was viewing something intimate. "Courting…"

Bluestreak sighed with a frown.

"I don't think my Sire will want to see me for a while. Especially after my episode. I might as well as have disgraced the Crown of Vos." the femme said as she hung her helm, rubbing a servo down her faceplate in distress. Bluestreak pulled away from his golden mate, sitting by the femme's side.

"Would you like to talk about it?" he asked, careful if she was going to outburst. The femme normally did, especially if the fight she had with her family was serious.

Surprisingly, the femme shook her helm. "No. I would rather not and I spewed a little to your mate, there."

"She did." Sunstreaker confirmed.

Bluestreak offered his mate a soft smile before he gave the femme a gentle hug. "Feel free to stay a while."

Cloudmist smiled. "Thank you, Blue. So much."

"No need to thank me, Misty."

She gave a soft giggle before his midsection captured her attention. "Oh, look at you though! You've gotten bigger since I've last seen you."

Bluestreak glanced down at his midsection that had grown enough for the Praxian to cradle his middle. He smiled, running his servos over the surface. "Yeah. Ratchet said it's triplets, but we don't know if they'll be mechs or femmes. Or both."

"I can only imagine how surprised your mates were."

Sunstreaker chuckled, running a gentle hand across his mate's wings. "You have no idea."

Bluestreak raised his helm towards his mate. "You almost crashed."

"Not true."

"M-hm, sure."

The femme giggled. "Have you told your brother, yet?"

Bluestreak's wings twitched and the energon rose to his cheeks. "No… not yet."

"We tell him that he should tell Prowl sooner rather than later." added Sunstreaker.

"Yeah, I know. But… I'm scared what he'll do."

"The most he can do is glitch. If he dares try lay a servo on you, you have Sides and I to protect you. Besides, Jazz supports us." the golden twin stated as he sat by his mate. "And we are taking you to see him tomorrow."

The Praxian squeaked, "What?!"

"You start leave tomorrow, Sides managed to get off work, and I don't have anywhere to be."

Bluestreak looked nervous in an instant, wings quivering. Sunstreaker held a wing in his servo, rubbing in gentle circles with the other. "You and Sides planned this, didn't you?"

"Better sooner than later, Blue." supplied Cloudmist. She smiled with a twinkle in her optics. "And you can set me up with that blind date we talked about."

Bluestreak lit up, smiling with gusto. "Yes! Smokey isn't home either and comes back in the morning. I can convince him while you can get freshed up with Iacon's delights. It'll be great!"

"A blind date with Smokescreen?" Sunstreaker gave his mate a curious look. "Her and Smokey?"

Bluestreak looked at his mate and nodded. "Of course! They've got quite a bit in common and once Smokey finds out her favorite pastime, they will enjoy being together"

Cloudmist smiled at Sunstreaker's questioning gaze. "I gamble."

The golden twin burst into a full blown smile. "The youngest of the Vosnian royalty is a gambler. Well, now I've heard everything. Smokey will certainly love you."

The femme flushed.

"It's official," Bluestreak announced. "You've got a date with Smokey."

"What now?" asked Sideswipe as he walked into their home. "Smokey on a date and I didn't know about this?"

Bluestreak stood up, smiling bemusedly as he approached his red twin. "Yep."

Sideswipe pecked a chaste kiss onto Bluestreak's lips. "Baby Blue plotting against his brother and he doesn't bother involve his prankster mates? I'm hurt, babe."

The Praxian rolled his optics with a grin. "Because the blind date is to get my friend away from the courting gatherings."

Sideswipe looked confused and he raised his helm, seeing the femme sitting on the couch with a small smile. The red twin's jaw fell off its hinge. "Smokey is going on a blind date with the youngest of the Vosnian royalty?"


End file.
